Great Moments in Southern Film and Literature

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Bill O'Reilly's book "Killing the Rising Sun" should be required reading for every American. it recounts the last days of WWII, the Atom bomb, and the defeat of Japan.

One of the many people highlighted is Private First Class Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector medic, the first to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

From the United States Army Center of Military History, "He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged cliff 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of mortar and machine gun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back.

Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying all 75 casualties one-by-one to the edge of the escarpment and lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands.

On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within eight yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety.

On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma.

Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire.

On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of one arm.

With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.

Desmond Doss received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman.

On November 4, 2016, a new movie will be released. "Hacksaw Ridge" is the story of Desmond Doss. I don't think I can watch it. The book is so graphic, I have to walk away from it at times. But I feel it's important to know this story.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

One highlight in being sick for three days has been the opportunity to pull out all my favorite Christmas DVDs and to get a jump on watching them before the Holidays begin. Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Christmas in Connecticut, A Christmas Story, and The Holiday are my favorites.

What I didn't know was a short film from 1945 also resides on the DVD of Christmas in Connecticut. It won an Oscar in 1946 for best Short Film.Why have I never heard of it??

Now there is another title on the list of favorites, Star in the Night.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Monday evening at the Maury County Historical Society's Editorial Board Meeting, new MCHS president James Lund and I explored the back storage room. He being braver than me squeezed into a cubby hole and withdrew a box of vintage photos from Columbia's past.

We found this jewel...

The note on the back read, "Gene Autry. 1938. Cowboy. Movie. Etc."

Cool!!!

MCHS Recording Secretary Colleen Farrell, researched the visit to Columbia from Gene Autry in 1938 and shared the information here.

Gene Autry the "Singing Cowboy" visited Maury County in 1938

The year was 1938, and in the United States the name of Gene Autry was well-known in most households. Born September 29, 1907 in Tioga, Texas, Orvon Gene Autry was a cowboy guitarist, singer, television actor and film actor. Nicknamed the “Singing Cowboy”, he is credited with creating the musical Western. He starred in multiple movies, including “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”, which was the first Western with a plot revolving around the lead cowpoke’s ability to sing. And in the early years of television, The Gene Autry Show ran for five seasons.

After his mother’s death when he was just four years old, Autry was moved to Oklahoma. At some point he began singing in church. This was followed by learning to play guitar. At age 16, Gene Autry worked at a local railway station, and then began manning the telegraph line at multiple stops along the railroad line. One night Gene Autry played guitar for a customer, who told him he had enough talent to get a job on the radio. That customer, it turned out, was actor Will Rogers, and Gene Autry soon quit his railway/telegraph job to find work in the music business.

At age 20, Autry was hired for his first radio job by a Tulsa radio station, performing as “Oklahoma’s Yodeling Cowboy”. The following year he wrote and recorded a hit song titled “That Silver-Haird Daddy of Mine”, and got a regular spot on the National Barn Dance show recorded in Chicago, Illinois.

In the mid-1930s Gene Autry married Ina Mae Spivey, and they headed west to Hollywood to further his career. In 1935 he signed with Republic Pictures and made his film debut in The Phantom Empire. That same year he also starred in Tumbling Tumbleweeds, followed by The Singing Cowboy in 1937 and Rhythm of the Saddle in 1938 and Sioux City Sue in 1942.

Three years into his movie career, Gene Autry was scheduled to appear in Maury County, Tennessee, one of many stops on a personal appearance tour. Just a few hours before The Singing Cowboy was to go on stage at the Princess Theatre in Columbia, his press agent, George Goodale, discovered that the theatre’s sound system was out-of-order, and not a single person at the theater knew how to repair it.

A search was made in Columbia, and the only person identified who could repair the system was William A. Orman, who worked for the Western Union office located in the adjoining Bethel House Hotel. When Mr. Orman was asked if he could get the sound system back in working order, he replied “More’n likely, but I can’t leave the office. Nobody to run my wire.” George Goodale thought quickly, and asked Orman “If I can get you a relief operator, will you go right over to the theater and get that thing working?” “Yup, I’ll do it,” said Orman, “but where you goin’ to get another operator? I’m the only one in town.”

It had been 10 years since Gene Autry last operated a telegraph, but his press agent, George Goodale, was determined that the show must go on as planned, even if his star had to man the telegraph lines for awhile to allow the theatre’s sound system to be repaired. Goodale hustled Gene Autry to the telegraph office, surprising William Orman, who looked up and said, “That’s Gene Autry”, and thought some kind of a joke was being played on him. However, once the Singing Cowboy convinced Orman that he did, indeed, know how to run the wire, William Orman went to the Princess Theatre and was able to repair the sound system in time for the show.

Many little boys were in the audience that day to see Gene Autry, and remembered for decades how their cowboy hero performed right in front of them on the stage of the Princess Theatre.

In 1978 Gene Autry’s autobiography, Back in the Saddle Again, was published. Included in the book were Autry’s memories from his 1938 stop in Maury County. “I remember Columbia, Tennessee --- which proudly billed itself as The Mule Capital of the World --- as the city that taught me the meaning of the phrase “the show must go on.”

Recalling the time that he manned the Western Union office so that the theatre’s sound system could be repaired, Autry wrote “I knew that, at some point, all that honest work I once did would pay off. Off hand, I can’t think of any other entertainers who were able to keep a booking because they knew the Morse Code.”

Shorty Marvin and Rocky Stone from Hollywood appeared with Gene Autry at the Princess Theatre. Pictured with them is John Batts of Columbia (center), a messenger for the local Postal Telegraph Company. Picture taken January 13, 1938.

The Singing Cowboy died at the age of 91, on October 2, 1998, in Studio City, California. Because of his versatility in performing media, he is unique in the entertainment field in that five stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame bear his name. Gene Autry’s memorial stone describes him as follows: AMERICA’S FAVORITE COWBOY, AMERICAN HERO, PHILANTHROPIST, PATRIOT AND VETERAN MOVIE STAR, SINGER, COMPOSER BASEBALL FAN AND OWNER 33RD DEGREE MASON, MEDIA ENTREPRENEUR, LOVING HUSBAND, GENTLEMAN A BELIEVER IN OUR WESTERN HERITAGE

The above story was revived in the early 1980s when Murray Miles spoke to the local Kiwanis Club about the little know incident back in 1938. Although Mr. Miles said that he could not vouch for the truthfulness of the story that had been passed on to him, it turned out that the story was subsequently verified by two things. Pat Greene of Columbia found a picture of Autry at the telegraph, and Gene Autry confirmed it forty years after the incident in his autobiography.1

Gene Autry also became a savvy businessman, developing and promoting his own lines of western-themed merchandise. During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces, where he served as a pilot from 1942-1945. After the war, he returned to the music charts in 1949 with the holiday classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” He subsequently starred for five seasons on The Gene Autry Show in the 1950s during the early years of television, and a series of comic books were made of the tales of Gene Autry.

GENE AUTRY in Columbia, Tennessee During his 1938 personal appearance tour stop in Maury County, Gene Autry was photographed sending telegraphs at the Western Union office located in the Bethel House Hotel. Another stop included the campus of Columbia Military Academy. The picture above shows cadets surrounding the country’s #1 musical cowboy, Gene Autry. Picture from the Lucille Courtney collection

1 Garrett, Jill, “Autry’s Book of Interest to Columbia”, Hither and Yon The Best of the Writings of Jill K. Garrett, Maury County Historical Society, 2nd edition, 1999, pg. 102-103

Sunday, January 19, 2014

For years I've perused shelf after shelf of books at bookstores and airport terminals across the country, and in every single one I've seen a small, underwhelming book on the game of Golf. No wonder I passed it by.

Only recently did I discover what a jewel this testament to life this little book is.

The book's author Harvey Penick was a golf professional and coach in the second half of the 20th century who coached many Hall of Fame players. However, it was late in life when he decided to write down the wisdom gained from his time loving, playing, and coaching the game.

I never developed the passion for golf as others in my family have, and therefore didn't think twice about passing over this book time and time again. Better late than never, peeking into the life of this golfer and learning the lessons he has to teach transcends golf in a way I understand with my true passions.

Harvey Penick writes,

"Golf has probably kept more people sane than psychiatrists have."

I hear,

"Painting has probably kept more people sane than psychiatrists have."

Harvey Penick writes,

"Go out and have fun. Golf is a game for everyone, not just a talented few."

I hear,

"Go out and have fun. Painting is a pasttime for everyone, not just a talented few."

Harvey Penick writes,

"The woods are full of long drivers."

I hear,

"Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah."

I have no idea what that means. But I'm going to guess not everyone who plays golf is skilled or perfect and not everyone who paints is skilled or perfect, but we still enjoy the process. That's my story, anyway.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Arts in Action and the Southern Fried Festival are hosting a poetry writing contest called Historical Haiku. A Haiku is a 3-line poem where the first line has 5 syllables, the second line has seven, and the third line has 5. But this contest wants your entries to have a Maury County History theme.

Examples:

The sunset's glowing Reflecting the Duck River All is peaceful here.

James and Sarah loved In Columbia they lived If for a short while.

Williamsport is west Culleoka in the east All else rests between

A leaf falls gently. The Athenaeum sleeps well, fading to winter.

James K. and Sarah stroll Columbia’s Downtown - echoes from the past.

Be inspired!

Send your Historic Haiku
entries to artsinactionTN@gmail.com by Monday, September 16! Winning
Haiku will be posted Downtown during the Southern Fried Festival, and
winners have the opportunity to read their haiku from the Kids Stage
during the Festival.

Most of these photos were taken by Kathie Fuston or me, but not all. Thank you to all who contributed!

Blessings to all

God has lovingly and generously showered his sweet blessings all around middle Tennessee. I enjoy so much selecting one each day to share with you in these pictures, recipes, paintings, inspirations and sometimes, completely random thoughts. Thank you for the visit. Come on back again real soon!

"To see the miraculous within the ordinary is the mark of highest wisdom." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him." ~Abraham Lincoln

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My Precious Furbabies

Lily Belle

Nannie Nutmeg Max

Love this silly boy! Found him as a stray on New Year's Day 2016 and have loved and cared for him ever since. And even though I cared for him as a foster, I couldn't let him go. Foster Failure. He's mine.

Tammy Tabby

Bootsie

Love this sweet, cuddly little beggar. Her family moved away and left her in the neighborhood. She took up residence under my next-door neighbors house and they fed her regularly, but she didn't have vet care or flea treatment. They moved this past weekend, so I contacted Pet Pals of Maury County for assistance. They immediately sent a voucher to a local vet so we could get her checked out, vaccinated, and spayed. I'm happy to report she has been given a clean bill of health and is available for adoption.

Little Man Max

This adorable little snuggle pup is a 3lb, 7 year old, altered male Yorkie. He was adopted by a precious, retired couple in Alabama who also adopted a Yorkie from Tennessee River Rescue in Selmer, TN. Along with this fur-sibling, Little Man Max will have a Schnauzer and Schnoodle to play with, along with afternoon golf cart rides around Lake Cullman. I want your life Max!!

Mr. Whiskers

This sweet boy looks like a little, red fox. And he was adopted!!
Honey Noggin'

Honey Noggin' (nee Gypsy) is still available. She is a senior pup with one bottom tooth that protrudes from her underbite so she reminds me of Elvis. Thank ya, Thank ya vury much!
Ebbie

Ebbie is an owner surrendered, 9 year old, female Basset Hound who is pure love in a dog suit and terribly confused. The only life she has ever known was uprooted and she came to live with me. Now a precious, young family has adopted her and they are in love. And their whole neighborhood is in love. That's what happens when there is a Basset about.
Lola and Lonnie

Lonnie and Lola are brother and sister, about 18 months old and simply adorable. They were adopted together. Thank you!!

Charlotte

Yay! My little foster Charlotte found her forever home at the PetSmart Adoption Event with Russell Rescue. She has two young boys to play with and they are already in love.

Brownie Puryear

Brownie found her furever home today! Yay!! Your new Momma has lots of puppy snuggles in her future.

Sadie Hawkins (nee Bubbles)

This precious baby was my foster and is now my god-puppy. She was adopted by my parents. She was special from the moment my dad laid eyes on her. We are thrilled to welcome her into our family as a member, and not a foster.

Glory B

Looking like the lovechild of Yoda and one of the Grimlins is Glory B (formerly Blackie). She is full of spunk and sass.... all three and a half pounds of her! Glory B was adopted by a sweet, retired couple looking for lap puppy on which to heap all their snuggles and kisses.

Maddie

Maddie was my foster for less than a week. This sweet girl was adopted by my friends Don and Carol who have given her a new fur-sibling as well as a loving home. Don't you just love happy endings?

Junebug

Junebug is a precious, 35lb, young, female, terrier-mix foster adopted in September. Playful, intelligent and loveable. She's now enjoying a family of her own.

Millie Matisse

Millie Matisse, my little foster through Russell Rescue, was adopted by an adorable young lady July 2015. She enjoys a loving home that she shares with her new fur-sibling.
Vienna
Vienna, my little foster through Russell Rescue, was adopted by a sweet family in Murfreesboro, June 2015. She enjoyed love and kisses through her finals days and ventured across the Rainbow Bridge end of August 2015.
Gen. Jubal Lee

A little beggar that came up starved and injured. He's hanging out with me until I can determine if he has a home. If not, he has a minor operation in his future and then will be ready for a loving forever home. Right now he is getting loving care and attention and plenty of kibble.
Ruby

Ruby, a Pet Pals of Maury County foster, now lives with her furever family in Culleoka, TN
Ida Claire Ida Claire, a Snooty Giggles foster, was my furbaby from 10-31-11 to 7-26-12. She was taken by transport to live with her Fur-ever Family in Massachusetts, 7/26/12. Miss you silly girl!